Pages

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Stressed out students at Yale Law School can visit the library to checkout a dog for 30 minutes. Yes, you read that correctly. Along with over one million law books, the students can borrow a dog during this three day trial, which begins on Monday. While it is well documented that therapy dogs can help kids feel more relaxed, it is interesting to see this concept applied to law students. This news was even published in The New York Times today.

The dog is hypoallergenic and must remain in a designated part of the library. The school is seeking feedback from students about whether or not this should become a regular service, like at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh.

Friday, March 11, 2011

While many humans eat gluten-free or vegan, there are a growing number of dogs on vegan or gluten-free diets. Some dogs have a gluten allergy. In other cases, dogs may eat vegan or gluten-free because their owners are vegan or have celiac disease. Here are two new blog posts that contain excellent information and resources.

The Vegan Soapbox has a blog post called “Thriving Vegan Dogs.” The post has links to an interesting CNN article and The Vegan Dog Nutrition Association. The author, Eccentric Vegan, shows how dogs can survive on a vegan diet.

Kristen Campbell at Gluten-Free Fox wrote a great post called “Caring for a Gluten-Free Dog.” She described her struggle to identify the cause of her dog’s health problems and find gluten-free dog food. She even used gluten test kits to determine if the food was truly gluten-free!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Are you considering getting a dog or cat? Before you do, it is important to understand the cost of owning a dog or cat. Here are tips from Savings Experiment: Cats vs. Dogs.

“The results are clear, and it's not even by a whisker. For most lifestyles, dogs are higher-maintenance so they're more expensive. Although cats and dogs tie in some arenas, there's not a single category in which cats are pricier.”

When adopting a pet from the ASPCA, there is an adoption fee, but it does include spaying or neutering, micro-chipping, and shots. For a dog, expect the adoption fee to be between $75 and $200. Add to your dog budget other costs, such as routine health care, pet insurance, food, treats, special dietary needs, dog toys, a leash, a pooper scooper, waste bags, dog walkers, and kennels.

You can save money on bags by using the Doody Digger pooper scooper, since you don’t need to dispose of the bag after only one use. Stand up the Doody Digger when not in use and the weight of the waste will virtually seal the waste bag closed. When the bag is heavy, replace it with the inexpensive Doody Digger waste bags or reuse grocery store bags.